Former All Blacks weigh in on the No.9 position for AB's

In the round-thirteen clash between the Crusaders and the Chiefs in Christchurch, supporters had the chance to see some of the top halfbacks New Zealand has to offer.

The No.9 position is one of the toughest selections facing Scott Robertson and his staff as they pick their squad for the home France series in July.

Cameron Roigard has been impressive for the Hurricanes this season, Folau Fakatava is back from injury, and the Crusaders have two halfbacks in Kyle Preston and Noah Hotham that could possibly make the All Blacks in 2025.

Cortez Ratima’s first season in an All Blacks was a success, and he will look to add to his eleven Test caps this year. Blues halfback Finlay Christie has been out of favour in the black jersey for a while now, but could still have a part to play for the All Blacks, if Robertson wants a defensive halfback.

Someone who has the credentials to critique and have an opinion on halfbacks in New Zealand is Justin Marshall, who thinks that the All Blacks realised in 2o24 that New Zealand’s halfbacks must have a well-rounded skillset.

“I think we’ve recognised that we needed to have that element of what Aaron Smith brought, which was just second or third arrival at the breakdown, crispy pass, and we’re rifling onto the ball,” Marshall said on The Breakdown.

“But they’re all very good there, that none of them are behind the eight ball and getting to the breakdowns. They’re all second, third, first in the teams with regularity.

“I think maybe we need to offer up something different, we have to think about also what we’re doing in the last 20 minutes of these Test matches in particular, and at the moment, conspiring to lose them, because whatever we’re doing with our bench is not changing the picture, and it’s not helping us win Test matches.”

Marshall explains that when he recently talked to Crusaders playmaker James O’Connor, the experienced first five was full of praise for the way New Zealand halfbacks play the game.

“It’s been really interesting talking to James O’Connor over the last two months, and he just can’t believe the speed that New Zealand teams play at. That’s our strength, being able to rifle onto the ball, and half back gets there quickly and lets go of it.

“He said, I’ve not experienced that anywhere else in the world and he’s played all over the world.”

Former All Black Jeff Wilson questions whether Robertson and the All Blacks will need to select a more defensive halfback off the bench, who can come on and steady the ship in the final 20 minutes.

“For a long time, we had Tawera Kerr-Barlow, and then it was TJ Perenara, right? They were the two guys that came off the bench and were really good defensively,” Wilson told The Breakdown on Sunday evening.

“TJ used to use his box kick really well. This is a hard one, because we had one guy who was the number one for so long, in Aaron Smith. The Aaron Smith skill set, which we know is pretty amazing, sort of defined the position a little bit differently from the All Blacks.

“Do we look for the Aaron Smith type of game, or do we move away from that as the All Blacks and go, you know what? We can’t recreate that, so now we have to find a new style for our halfbacks to play.”

When asked about what Kyle Preston brings to the All Black No.9 conversation, Marshall believes that his kicking game with both feet is something different.

“Because he’s smart, he knows very much what his strengths are, and he’s very skilled to be able to kick off both left and right foot,” Marshall said.

“Nobody can do that in the world apart from him and Anton Dupont, so he just doesn’t seem to do anything wrong either. He’s got a good support line, and I think he scored three tries in his first game for the Crusaders, so he’s just a really intelligent player.

“So when he does kick it, he kicks it at the right time and kicks it and tries to try and get it back and put the opposite opposition under pressure.”